Archibald black



A. BLACK. AEROPLANE CONTROL SYSTEM- APPucmon FILED mmzl. I91I- Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I/WENTUR A HORNE) A. BLACK.

AEROPLANE CONTROL SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED MAIL, ISH- 1,395,254. Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M MAM PEAQQMIIW I TTORIIEI UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARCHIBALD BLACK,

OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

OF ONE-HALF TO nw-F ENGINEERING COMPANY. INC., OF COLLEGE POINT, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AEROPLANE-CONTROL SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

Application filed March 21, 1917. Serial No. 156,338.

T all wlwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABCHIBALD BLACK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the eounty'of Kings, and in the State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Aeroplane'Control S stems, and do hereby declare that the to lowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates particularly to an apparatus designed to control the lateral equilibrium of'aeroplanes.

The object of my invention is to provide an'apparatus by means of which the lateral equilibrium of an aeroplane may be controlled, and by means of which the aeroplane may be turned to the right or to the left, as

desired. A further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus which is wholly subcontrol of the operator of the aeroplane, whereby he may at. will elevate either side of the aeroplane and simultaneously depress the other side thereof, and in sucha manner that the depression or elevation of either side of the aeroplane need not have any effect ineareelerating or retarding the movement f the aeroplane at the side depressed or elevated. .In other words, an object of my invention is to provide a device by the operation of which a particular side of an aeroplane carrying the same may he elevated or depressed without affecting the speed of that side of the aeroplane,.and which is so arranged that, if desired, the speed of either side of the aeroplane may be changed by the operation of said device. A further object is to provide a controlling apparatus for aevoplanesinwhich the vertical ject to the rudderis eliminated. Further objects of my invention will appear from the detailed description thereofcontained hereinafter.

While my invention is capable of embodiment in many different forms, for the purposes of illustration I have shown only one form thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a front elevation of an aeroplane equipped with my invention;

Fig. is a side elevation of the same: i Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the control system shown in its middle position;

Fig. l is a similar view of the ame show- ,plaiie having 'a tor in any suitable manner,

ing it in position to elevate one side and depress the other side of the aeroplane, and Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the same indposition for turning the aeroplane to one si e.

In the drawings 1 have shown an aerofuselage 1, provided at each side of the fuselage. with a stabilizer plane '2 and a rudder 3 extending rearwardly from the stabilizer planes. The horizontal rudder B'may be controlled by the aeroplane operaas for example,

by controlling cables 4 and 5 leading from brackets fi-and 7 attached to the rudder 3 and into the fuselage in proximity to the position of the operator. The 0 erator of the aeroplane may be provided with a seat, not shown,in an opening 5? in the top of the fuselage, from which point the control of the aeroplane may be effe/Jted. In the opening 5", there may be provided two coaxial juxtaposed hand-wheels 8 and 9 for controlling the lateral equilibrium and lateral turning of the aeroplane, the same be ing carried where they obviously may be seized and moved either separately or together, respectively on the sleeve 10 and a rod 11 which passes through said sleeve, and the sleeve 10 and rod 11 being shown as pivotally supported in a rectangular frame 12 having, for example, two cross-members 13 carried by a pivot 14 located on the interior of the fuselage. The sleeve 10 is shown as provided at its lower end with agear 15 meshing with a gear 16 on a shaft l7 attachedto a roll 18, pivoted in the frame 12, and the rod 11, as shown, carries a gear 19 meshing with a gear 20 on a shaft 21 carried by a roll 22. pivoted in the rot-tungular frame 12, the hand wheels being thus so placed and mounted that the can. when desired, be operated independently. An endless cable. or the like, 23 is shown as so arranged as to be doubled upon itself in Form two loops 21' and 25. which are shmrn us wrapped around the roll spirally. The loop 24-preferably passes over thin.- pa. of idler wheels 26. ill' aud 2 and the l 95 preferably passes over one pair of are; wheels 29. Intermediate the wheels 2" and 29. the two portions of the cable 2 3 are s wwii as attached respectively to lever ;llll\1; & and

supported upon 'a common pivot 34 which may be secured between pairs of struts 35 and &6, which extend between upper and lower supporting planes 37 and 38 that are secured to the fuselage 1. Other pairs of vertical struts, such as 3!), 40, 41 and 42 secure said two planes 37 and 38 together, and wire stays 42% are provided at intervals between the struts. 'lhe struts 39 and are pro vidcd with lower extensions 44 and 45 which, in the'cmboiliment shown, lead to wheels 46 for supporting the aeroplane from theground, obliquely arranged braces 47 and 48' being preferably provided to brace said wheels from the fuselage l. The idler wheels 26 are preferably supported in the fuselage l, and the idler wheels 27 and 28 are preferably supported from the supporting plane 37, while the idler wheels 2!) may be supported upon the plane 358. At the other side of the aeroplane similar-planes 49 and 50 are shown provided upon a common pivot 5|, supportedbctween the struts 4] and 42, and as the controlling means for these planes 49 and 5!) is shown as the same as the controlling means at the other side of the aeroplane, the ilctails of the controlling means at this side of the aeroplane will not be described. The aeroplane may be provided with the usual motor 52 for dr ving a propeller 53 In the opcr. ion of my invention, when lhc aeroplane is proceeding upon a level course, and it is neithcr necessary to control the lateral equilibrium our turn to the right or the lcft, the plancs 32, 33, 49 and M) will be in the position as shown in Fig. l. When, hmvcvcr. it becomes necessary for the aeroplanc to turn to the right or to the left, one of thc handwhccls 8 and U will he opcratcd so as to opcn lbosc two of the planes, 32 33, 45 and 5H. which arc locatcd at the side toward which thc acl'oplnuc is to turn, as in Fig. 3. This will liavc the cll'cct of retarding this side o the aeroplane so as to cause lhc acroplanc .to turn in this direction. If for any rcason it becomes necessary to elevauutbc sidc ol' the aeroplane away from which l.li1' :u-roplulu' is turning, the rectangular l'ramc It! may be moved upon the pivot l4. lhc opcl'utilig means thus moving as a unit. so as to clcvatc tl Fv controlling planes at llnsidc away from which the urroplzinc is turning and dcpress the ontrolling plain-s at lluotlu-r siilc, t'lc rcspc livc rll'c ls ol' Ibis pivotal m'ovcincnt licing thus v ulr lanlially equal and opposite. 'lhis niovcnu-nt would he compriscd of not only the movcnu-nl. shown in Fig. l, but the movcmrnl shown in l"ig. 3. ll deliicll. also, in orilcr to control the lateral equilibrium ahinc. and without retarding the movement of uric side of the acroplanc, the planes I52, Il i, 49 and 50 may be moved so that one pair thereof is elevated, while the ofihcr pair thereof is simultaneously and correspondling ingly depressed, as shown in Fig. 4, through the pivotal movement of the frame 12 upon the pivot 14. If the aeroplane is to ascend or descend as a whole, the horizontal rudder IS ma be utilized by moving the same up- \vard y or downwardly by means of the cables 4 and 5.

While -I have described my invention above in detail, I wish it to be understood that man' changes may be made therein without eparting from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

I. In combination two an aeroplane having pairs, of rearwardly separable controlplanes, one of which pairs is located at each side of the aeroplane, and a common controlling means for the same comprising a swin ing frame having two rols conncctcd iy cables to said pairs of planes respectivcly, and independent handwheels on the frame for controlling said rolls.

2. In combination, an aeroplane having two pairs of separable controlling planes, a pivoted frame, a pair of rolls ournaled in said frame each having cables connected to one of said pairs of planes, and independent hand wheels having concentric shafts respccti vely connected to said rolls.

3. In combination, an aeroplane having two pairs of separable cimtrolling planes located on the two sides-thereof, a iivoted frame, a pair of rolls journuled in said frame each having cables conncctcd to one of said pair of planes, and independent hand wheels having concentric shafts respectively canncctcd to said rolls.

4. In combination, all aeroplane having two pairs of hinged controlling planes, a pivoted frame, a pair of rolls journaled in said frame, each iaving a pair of endless cables wound around it and connected to one of the planes, concentric hand-wheels mounted on the frame and constructed to turn saidrolls.

5. In combination, an aeroplane having two pairs of rearwardly separable controlling planes, one of which pairs is located at each side of the aeroplane, and a common controlling means for the same comprising a swinging frame having two rolls, each connected by two endless cables to the planes naspertively and concentric hand-wheels in thc frame for turning the rolls.

(3. In combination, an aeroplane having twov pairs ol' separable controlling planes, means for operating the planes comprising a pair of rolls each having cables connected to cach scl ol' plancs, and independent handwhccls having concentric shafts rrspcctivcly con u-ctcil to said rolls.

In tcstimony that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto set my hand.

AItCIIIBALD BLACK. 

